Page 48 - 1965

It Happened At Midnight
As if in agony, the wind moaned through the trees. The rain fell in torrents; occasionally lightning made a jagged rent in the blackness of the Devonshire nigpt
As the cab stopped before a dark and lonely house on the outskirts of the litt(e town of Excombe, the clock in the town hall tolled mornfully eleven times. John and I stepped out into the rain, and the cab disappeared into the darkness.
"Hurry up before you get soaked," John said.
"I wonder what the old goat has on his mind this time?'' I said as we rang the bell.
John had no time to answer. At that moment, the door opened, and Professor Henchley ushered us inside. He was well past sixty, tall and powerfully built, but stooped and bent from long years of experimental research in his favourite field, psychic phenomena. Tonight his eyes, normally sunken and dull, glittered in the lined gaunt face.
''Sit down boys," he said. "What I have to say is less important than what Isqallshowyou,-here-tonight.Toputitallinanut-shell, Ihave madecontact." · "You mean," I said slowly, "that you can actually create a demon, or some such fantastic creature out of thin air! What is this--some sort of hypnotic
trick with that wave-length box of yours?"
"No, my skeptical friend, " the professor replied. ''This is not hypnotism.
But I can project and materialize vibrations with the box, as you call it. Now watch!
· With that, he strode to the machine and turned the switch. A low humming soundfilled the room, passed through the audible range and for a few seconds nothing seemed to happen. Outside, the wind swooped around the house and the fire flickered feebly, casting weird shadows, which seemed to form grotesque shapes on the walls. An oppressive heaviness lay on the room. The air seemed to grow thick, and then it appeared, slowly add indistinclty. I could feel a presence which seemed to fill the room. The fire flickered, the flame died, and th1:1 room sank into semi-darkness. Two fiery orbs, evil, ominous, glaring in ha~e and rage, appeared in the gloom.
Iscreamedwithallmymight, ''Professor, turn it off, for God's sake , turn it off!" My legs gave way, and the floor rushed up to meet me.
When I came to, everything was back to normal. The professor was tinkering with his invention.
"You see, I have done it," he said, "but I have not Discovered the means to control it, yet---"
"Professor, you had better destroy that machine before it is too late".
"Destroy it, indeed! I'm going to put it to work soon". As he spoke his eyes glittered with a peculiar light.
We did not question the professor further . All we could think of was getting away from this fearful place as quickly as possible. Mumbling a "good-night, we opened the door and started down the rain-soaked road towards the village. Tqe town clock began to toll the hour of midnight, its notes punctuated by growls of thunder.
Without warning, a dazzling flash of bluish light lit the earth and sky. It came from behind us, and as we turned to look, a great wall of sound, a roar like the hunting cry of a thousand tigers, bore down upon us.
' "Look!" screamed John. "Look at the house!"
It was clothed in blue light. Over it hung a great Shadow, without shape or
form, but in the centre of the Shadow - of this I am sure - were two great red Eyes. The chimney crashed, and the entire front of the house collapsed like a house of cards.
At the inquest, the police, of course, had an explanation - of sorts. Light-
ning, they said - possibly accompanied by a small localized tornado. But John
arid I knew there had been no wind. And not even the police could explain the
1
fact that neither Professor Henchley nor his machines and records were ever found. We did not tell all that we knew. After all, who would believe a story lij{e this anyway?
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J. Gerynowitz.